The analysis of ICE shows that the parameters of its working process are not sufficiently high. In particular, they are 10-20 times lower than the parameters of steam engines. The maximum pressures of working substance for ICE and steam engine are comparative, but the mean effective pressure related to the working stroke equals about 10 kg/cm.sup.2, and when related to volume displacement in a four-stroke working process equals only 2.5 kg/cm.sup.2. For a steam engine this characteristic reaches 50 kg/cm.sup.2.
The second substantial drawback of ICE is the incompatibility of the initial and final parameters of working substance. If at the beginning of compression, the pressure is equal 1 kg/cm.sup.2 and the temperature is equal 300K, then at the end of the process, i.e. during the discharge of exhaust gases in atmosphere, the pressure reaches 6 kg/cm.sup.2 and the temperature 1700K. When having such parameters there are great output losses of energy, substantial environment pollution and a complicated problem to silence exhaust noise of the engine operation.
The third essential drawback of ICE is the imperfection of the working substance compression process. It should be noted that the energy to compress a working substance is taken from the working gases, i.e. there is an exchange of thermodynamic energy between the working gases and the air being compressed before a combustion of fuel in it. The losses peculiar to ICE mechanism arise because of this energy exchange, and these losses are doubled because the mechanical energy obtained from the working gases travels from a piston bottom to a flywheel and then back.
The fourth drawback of majority of ICE is the discrepancy from an ideal compression process, which must proceed at first with intensive cooling and then at a second phase the adiabatically. Partly, the regulation of a heat transfer is realized by ceramic inserts, which insulate the cylinder walls and combustion chamber. Nevertheless, these inserts do not provide the intensive heat transfer at the first phase of a compression and improve only compression conditions at the second phase.
There are many various technical solutions in which the gases obtained as a result of air-fuel mixture combustion in ICE cylinder are used after their expansion in cylinders to increase the pressure of a fresh charge. For example, the invention according to author certificate of the USSR #1677358, 1989 "The method of the regulation of a diesel engine having turbo supercharge and the diesel engine" besides usage of exhaust gases in a supercharge turbo compressor plant, at partial load it uses such measures as to shut off the group of cylinders from the fuel supply, to change the scheme of the air-gas path by means of valves while shutting out the receiver and to use the shut off group of cylinders for the compressing of a fresh charge delivered to the operating group of cylinders.
This solution increases the efficiency of the engine when operating on partial regimes, but the exhaust losses reduce substantially the thermodynamic efficiency.
There are some technical solutions in which the thermodynamic processes in ICE are optimized, for example the solution described in author certificate N 1806282, 1989 "The method of four-stroke internal combustion engine operation with disconnectable cylinders" suggest to carry out the fresh charge compression twice, while after the first compression the air is cooled thus bringing the process nearer to isothermal process, and after the second compression the air is heated before delivery into operating cylinders.
Nevertheless, the improvement of the fresh charge compression process in this technical solution is carried out only for partial regimes, thus preventing to improve noticeably the efficiency of the fuel use, to obtain a principally new engine. Moreover, the air compression in the engine cylinder leads to increased mechanical losses.
The technical solutions, in which the thermodynamic processes for ICE exhausted gas energy transmission to air being compressed are used, are also known. For example, the author certificate of the USSR N 1134748, 1983 "Pressure exchanger" describes an apparatus, comprised of a drum having some passages with installed movable partitions which have from one side a connected exhaust gas collector and from the other side the delivery of fresh air. However, this technical solution does not allow all processes for fresh charge preparing and the parameters of compressed air which are necessary to begin combustion, thus reducing the efficiency of fuel energy usage.
Among known technical solutions "The method to realize a cycle of internal combustion piston engine" described in author certificated of the USSR #17060140, 1990, is considered by the authors as a prototype.
Taken as a prototype the method to realize a cycle of internal combustion piston engine consists in air compression, preparing of an air-fuel mixture, mixture combustion inside a cylinder with a movable piston, hot gas expansion and delivery of expansion work through a piston and an engine mechanism to an engine output shaft, while a portion of the gas energy is used to compress air.
This method provides comparatively high efficiency of energy transformation due to a preliminary compression of a fresh charge of air and due to the produced hot gas usage not only in the engine cylinder but in two-stage expansion machine.
However, the efficiency of a cycle in the method taken as a prototype is achieved due to the using of units which provide a mechanical transformation of energy (compressor and expansion machines) thus resulting in a low useful work factor and furthermore an additional compression of air in the engine cylinder results in losses of effective efficiency.
Among known piston internal combustion engines "The power unit" described in author certificate of the USSR #1835460, 1990, is taken by the authors as a prototype for their apparatus. Taken as a prototype the piston engine comprises a housing with cylinders, pistons joined to a power take off shaft by means of a mechanism and an air-fuel mixture preparation system which includes a device for air compressing which uses the energy of the cylinder exhaust gases; this engine contains valves and a cooler of compressed air also. This device contains the means which improve the effective usage of energy of engine cylinder exhaust gases: gases are delivered into a turbine which drives a super charge compressor and then into a steam generator which produces steam used for an additional increase of fresh charge pressure. As a prototype apparatus additionally to the above mentioned mechanical transformation losses there are great losses in the additional loop for the free-piston compressor working substance, and in a steam generator during the heat transfer process. The complicated construction of a prototype and its dimensions do not allow the creation of a power unit which can win a competition with known units, especially for vehicles.
The problem to be solved is maximal effective usage of the burned fuel energy. For this problem to be solved it is necessary:
to increase the mean effective pressure of working gases ICE cylinders in several times; PA1 to reduce energy losses with exhaust gases and to attain gas parameters which are lower than critical ones thus probably allowing the elimination of a silencer, PA1 to attain a working process close to a Carnot cycle, i.e. to increase substantially the indicator efficiency; PA1 to reduce as far as possible the losses when the expansion energy of the working gases is transformed into the energy of compressed air.
As a result of the solution of this problem a new technical result is achieved which includes the development of a principally new cycle of energy transformation in an internal combustion engine which achieves a substantially increased liter power and substantially reduced specific mass of an engine and its effective efficiency reaches to the value 0.85 which is the maximal possible in thermodynamic conversions. The piston internal combustion engine developed to realize this cycle becomes able to win a competition with the best engines among known ones and its usage in vehicles allows access to capacious market of automobiles.